Corbyn 'Nike' T-Shirt To Be Shown In Museum

Why This Jeremy Corbyn T-Shirt Is To Be Shown At The V&A

Corbynmania is what many of us will remember when we think back to the June 2017 general election. Not only did a sizeable chunk of under-30s believe the 68-year-old shared their values, they also managed (somehow) to endow the allotment-tending, jam-making vegetarian with street cred. His support among grime artists and "cool" celebrities also helped.

Then there was that Corbyn Nike swoosh t-shirt. The shirt, made by Bristol Street Wear, seemed to dominate Instagram in the run-up to the election and could be found on the chests of the most die-hard Corbynistas on polling day.

Advertisement

Now, the shirt's status has reached new heights as it was announced that it will be displayed at London's Victoria & Albert Museum,the Guardian reported. It will be shown alongside the pink pussy hats found at January's Women's March and a flag designed for the first refugee team to compete in the Olympic Games.

Bristol Street Wear, which donated the t-shirt, said it was "great to see the typically dismissed art form, ‘bootlegs’, given pride of place" at the iconic museum. "This T-shirt spoke to so many people. It was immediate, it was fun, it started debates, it was censored and it even got us into trouble – everything good art should.”

Tristram Hunt, a former Labour MP and Corbyn critic who now runs the V&A, said: “As the nation’s storehouse for contemporary design and fashion, we are delighted to acquire the Corbyn T-shirt. It is also a rather strong statement of our belief in curatorial autonomy.”

Meanwhile, Corinna Gardner, keeper of the V&A’s design, architecture and digital department, said the shirt, "captures the current vogue for slogan tees and the growing influence of street wear brands," the Guardian reported.

Gardner called the Corbyn logo “inherently digital in its translation of online culture and memes into material form [and] enables us to ask questions about the role of data and social media in the recent election campaign”. It's not too late to get your hands on your own slice of history.